


Back into the Game

by ComicBooksBro



Series: I’d like to start by apologizing to Dean for doing this to him [4]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: A little fluffy, Dean is healing! I'm so proud of him!, Determined Dean Winchester, M/M, No Angst, Not Beta Read, Past Rape/Non-con, Rape Recovery, Salt 'n Burn, past trauma
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-16
Updated: 2021-03-16
Packaged: 2021-03-25 06:42:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,137
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30085038
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ComicBooksBro/pseuds/ComicBooksBro
Summary: Dean has decided to start hunting again. It works out better than he had expected.
Relationships: Castiel/Dean Winchester
Series: I’d like to start by apologizing to Dean for doing this to him [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2141340
Comments: 6
Kudos: 24





	Back into the Game

**Author's Note:**

> Hey all! I'm back! It's been a while, but I've still got some stuff in the works for this series. (Two more things I've completed, actually!) Anyway, this one is short, and hopefully relatively sweet :)  
> I hope you like it!
> 
> <3

The thought occurs to Dean roughly seven months after he had been rescued, and and a year and one month since his disappearance.

“I want to start hunting again.”

Cas looks up from his scrambled eggs in surprise. “You——what?”

“I——" _don’t look at the floor_ “——I want to start hunting again.” Dean stabs a piece of egg with his fork. The smell of food makes him feel sick. “I haven’t had a panic attack in a week, I’m——I handled that influx of hunters we had a few days ago, I’m _okay.”_

He can’t bring himself to say ‘good’ yet. That’s one of those words that still belongs to the shifter. He’s working up to it though.

It’ll happen eventually.

“I even have a case!” Dean pulls out his phone and passes it to Cas. “It’s just a salt and burn, something easy. We can take it out in a few hours.”

“Dean...”

“Please.”

Dean doesn’t want to beg, but damn if he won’t for this. He needs to get back in the game, sooner rather than later, or he’s going to lose it. The kid gloves need to come off eventually, and Dean was ready months ago.

Cas relents.

Dean all but launches himself across the table to kiss Cas.

***

Sam is off with Eileen at the moment, which A) gives Dean many opportunities to make inappropriate jokes at his brother’s expense, and B) leaves Cas and Dean to tackle this hunt on their own. It’s almost exciting.

Or, well, it’s exciting enough to have Dean up at 5:30 in the morning because he can’t sleep. He’s jittery——nervous——but not scared. The coffee he’s been nursing for the last hour doesn’t help, but at least he’s allowed to drink coffee again. That’s nice, at least.

Things are almost normal again, and Dean likes that. He loves it, actually. Sam doesn’t treat him like he’s made of glass now, and Dean has even started going out in public again. It seems almost like this is the last step to feeling normal again, and if it’s not that, it’s damn sure a milestone.

Even the damn _road_ is exciting right now. It disappears quickly under the car, potholed and cracked, as they leave the bunker behind.

Dean has left Lebanon since Cas and Sam brought him back, but only for Sioux Falls and a couple of other places. This is farther than he’s gone in a long time.

Not much has changed in the year or so that Dean has been out of hunting. It’s all the same crappy motels, late-night diners, and illegal activities, and familiarity has never been so comfortable.

They stop off at the local motel and book a room as soon as they get in, and search out the grave of their local spirit as they wait for night to fall. It’s all pretty straightforward, especially since the ghost is a well known haunt around the town, and there’s more than enough information on her. It’s almost a shame she needs to be taken care of, seeing as she had been relatively placid for the better part of half a century, but time gets the best of al ghosts eventually, and she had turned vengeful about a month ago, if Dean’s research is anything to go by.

It’s not even necessary to dress up as any sort of law enforcement, which makes the hunt even easier. All in all, it’s the perfect (well, as perfect as any hunt can be) way to get back into the game.

Before long, the sun goes down, and the Impala rumbles into the graveyard. It’s all so familiar, something that Dean has done a thousand times before, but it feels different, if only slightly. Dean supposes that it’s just him that’s making it different. It will probably always be that way now. The difference isn’t _bad,_ but it’s new. Or maybe Dean has just forgotten how hunting feels.

Either way, digging up a grave still fucking sucks. It doesn’t take as long as Dean had thought it would, though.

Small mercies.

It’s an almost lazy night, and Dean is humming under his breath as he pulls the bag of salt and lighter fluid out of the Impala’s trunk. Cas is finishing shoveling the last of the dirt out of the grave, and the night is calm except for a slight, cool breeze.

So, of course, that is when the ghost chooses to show up.

It’s a fitting end to an otherwise calm night. Cas goes skidding across the graveyard before either of them realize what has happened, and ends up on his grass-stained side next to Dean. Luckily, Dean’s hands are currently full with bags of salt, so it doesn’t take much effort to throw one through the ghost, and send it away for a few minutes.

After that, it’s a mad dash to the grave to dump the remaining salt into the open coffin, pour the lighter fluid on top of that, and set it ablaze. Red-orange flames lick at bones and the silky cream fabric of the coffin, slowly reducing them to ash.

Dean watches from the side of the grave, almost hypnotized. He wrinkles his nose at the appalling smell of burning flesh. That’s another thing that definitely hasn’t changed, but Dean has a new appreciation for it after being away for so long. That doesn’t mean he wants to make it into a candle or anything——it _is_ the smell of a burning body after all——but it’s a more tolerable smell than before. Cas gets to his feet after he catches his breath, a d walks over to join Dean. Hesitantly, Dean slips his hand into Cas’, and squeezes gently.

“Are you okay?” Cas asks after a couple minutes.

“I’m——“ Dean laughs “——I’m great.”

He means it, too. This is the best he’s felt in a while. It’s another step, another bit of his life reclaimed, and that’s enough to make Dean feel more than great. He’s still got a ways to go, but that doesn’t seem to matter now that he’s here: with Cas, under the night sky, with a corpse burning beneath them.

That’s normal——the closest Dean can get to normal, anyway——and he’s content with it. Maybe it’s the high of the moment, or the corpse fumes that make him do it, but Dean drags Cas into a kiss. He’s feeling touchy today; another sign that things are good right now.

Cas makes a little surprised noise, but settles his hand on Dean’s hip, and returns the kiss.

“Why do you say we make use of that motel room?” Dean asks with a wink and a telling smile on his face.

Cas rolls his eyes, but agrees.

***

They don’t do much more than sleep that night.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Comments and kudos appreciated!
> 
> <3


End file.
